FWIW, Ruppert is impressed with the W.H.O., and Michel Chossudovsky isn't so much. I'll go with Chossudovsky.
THE COMING PANDEMIC
by Michael C. Ruppert
April 29, 2009, 7:00 PM PDT -- It is pretty clear now that we're going for the full ride with swine flu. This is not like SARS (see FTW). It is bigger and much more ominous. There are good reasons to separate the ice cream from the bs right now -- the things that should be focused on from the things that distract, lead into blind alleys or induce panic. I had an epiphany today about why the W.H.O. and all governments are so concerned... It is not just the "unknown" nature of the bug but the fact that this is just more evidence that there are too many humans on this planet. It's so simple. With almost seven billion people, more of us are coming into contact with more of us... at a faster rate than ever; thanks to oil-powered transportation and population growth. It couldn't be more obvious. We're popcorn. We're also running out of energy, water, minerals, seafood and arable land... you name it.-- Now compound that with the fact that the Spanish Flu of 1918-1919 -- which killed between 20 and 40 million people -- was/is a variant of H1N1 Swine Flu and there's reason for one's ears to pick up. If it killed that many, that fast, in 1918 how many could it kill now and how fast with airplanes, cars, trucks and ships? And this epidemic/nascent pandemic is behaving more like Spanish flu that swine flu. It likes to kill young adults with healthy immune systems. Plus we have an H5N1 Avian flu genetic component thrown in. The W.H.O.'s reaction in escalating to a Level Five warning today was appropriate... and very welcome for me.
I was very impressed by by the statement of W.H.O.'s Director General Dr. Margaret Chan as she sounded the alarm. In part she said... "Above all, this is an opportunity for global solidarity as we look for responses and solutions that benefit all countries, all of humanity. After all, it really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic." -- All of humanity is under threat anyway. We have known that for a while now. Are her sentiments not what we believe here in Peak Oil/Sustainability? I can promise you that this is what I call for at the end of "A Presidential Energy Policy": a true species-wide dialogue. -- This is what must happen if our species is to survive the dieoff... a dieoff which few can still argue can't possibly happen.
To be fair, I do not know if this Swine/Spanish flu is going to kill billions or not. We all hope not. But it would be maladaptive and dumb to just rule out the possibility wouldn't it?
Now I must choose my words very carefully. -- I also cannot ignore the brilliant work done by many at FTW into the very mysterious cluster of murders, suicides and accidental deaths of 14 world-class microbiologists in a very short period right after 9-11. All of them were working on viral disease projects which FTW firmly established were consistent with the pursuit of a gene-specific bioweapon (e.g. race-specific). Our stories were "picked up" by the The Toronto Star (although the editor had to write me an apology email for not citing FTW) and The New York Times wrote a 7,500-word monstrosity trying explain that all these dead scientists were really an accident. Perhaps the most famous of these bizarre deaths was that of Dr. Don Wiley in Memphis. Wiley was la creme de la creme of microbiologists and I have saved an academic abstract showing that he was specializing in swine flu and DNA recombination. Same with the very famous "suicide" (murder) of Dr. David Kelly in the UK that happened around the time the British government dug up victims of the 1918 Spanish flu to get the DNA so that an extinct disease could be brought back to life.
I must emphasize that all this proves nothing except for the fact that the current outbreak bears watching closely. Personally, I believe that it is our job to do everything possible to prove that there is no possible biowarfare involvement here; not to mention a gene-specific one. The fastest way to rule that out is to see Caucasians falling right along with people of color. No one has yet explained why the U.S. cases have resulted in only one fatality (a 23 month-old Mexican boy) although I have heard the question asked many times on the air. "How come no one's dying in America? They have Tamiflu in Mexico."
There's yet another distinct reason why this is catastrophic. I have been pretty clear that protectionism was both an inevitable and imminent stage of collapse. This outbreak has opened the door for a protectionist panic. If the pandemic takes center stage then all bets are off. Russia has already banned all American meat products. China is pondering similar restrictions. Forget the science... this kind of reaction (logical or otherwise) has been a part of human nature since we became human. Fear is the most-powerful control mechanism this unevolved species has ever discovered. NAFTA is dead, just like globalization. And my message to Americans who want to ban food imports from Mexico... be careful what you pray for.
There can be no jumping to conclusions and I caution against it. There are only some very very good questions. Having written and edited many stories on biowarfare and pandemics at FTW -- as well as putting a chapter on the subject in "Crossing the Rubicon" -- I can tell you that this is serious.
Dr. Chan was quite right. All of humanity is threatened... and so I add is all of the humanity inside us.
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Political Lies and Media Disinformation regarding the Swine Flu Pandemic
by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, May 1, 2009
The World Health Organization (WHO) raised its pandemic alert level to Phase 5 on a 6 point scale.
The WHO's Phase 5 alert means "there is sustained human-to-human spread in at least two countries and that global outbreak of the disease is imminent... It also signals an increased effort to produce a vaccine... Human cases have been confirmed in Mexico, the United States, Canada, Britain, Israel, New Zealand and Spain." (emphasis added)
According to reports, the WHO took this decision after " a 23-month-old [child] died [from the swine flu] in Texas after travelling there from Mexico for medical treatment."
The swine flu was, according to reports, confirmed in 11 states in the US. Health officials at the WHO in Geneva and Washington are quoted as saying that the "spread of the virus is unlikely to stop".
The media has gone into full gear with little analysis and review of the evidence, focussing their attention on the more than 2400 cases of non-specific influenza in Mexico.
"the global outbreak is imminent...
all countries should activate preparedness plans",
The worst health crisis facing the world in 90 years..."
On the day following the WHO's Phase 5 Pandemic Alert, a scientist attached to the European Union's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention hinted, without evidence, that the epidemic could potentially affect 40% to 50% of the EU population "in a mild way". (See europeanvoice.com, April 30, 2009).
Professor Neil Ferguson, a member of the World Health Organisation task force on swine flu, stated that "40 per cent of people in the UK could be infected within the next six months if the country was hit by a pandemic."
“We don’t really know what size epidemic we will get over the next couple of months... It is almost certain that, even if it does fade away in the next few weeks – which it might – we will get a seasonal epidemic in the autumn."
“We might expect up to 30 to 40 per cent of the population to become ill in the next six months if this truly turns into a pandemic. “We could get substantial numbers infected in the next few weeks but, if I was to be a betting man, I would say it would be slightly longer because we are moving into summer.” Prof. Ferguson said the 152 deaths in Mexico probably made up a relatively small proportion of the total number infected, which might run into tens or hundreds of thousands." (Daily Express, May 1, 2009)
The media reports are twisted. Realities are turned up side down. Policy statements are not backed by medical and scientific evidence. Professor Ferguson's statements are unfounded. He has not bothered to check the number of "laboratory confirmed" swine flu cases in Mexico.
30 to 40 % of the British populaiton? Up to 50 % of the population of the European Union?
On what basis are these statements being made?
On April 27, there was, according to reports, only one case of swine flu in the entire European Union: "Europe's first confirmed case of swine flu has been diagnosed in Spain. The country's health ministry confirmed the news on Monday morning, after tests on a man who had recently returned from a trip to Mexico." (BBC, April 27, 2009)
Weakening the Social Protest MovementStatements of this nature on the "inevitable spread" of the disease, create, quite deliberately, an atmosphere of fear, insecurity and panic. They also serve to distract people's attention from a devastating global economic crisis which is leading the World into mass poverty and unemployment, not to mention the war in the Middle East and the broader issue of US-NATO war crimes.
The Real Global Crisis is marked by poverty, economic collapse, ethnic strife, death and destruction, the derogation of civil rights and the demise of State social programs. The EU announcement of the swine flu pandemic inevitably serves to weaken the social protest movement which has spread across Europe.
The emergency measures which have "closed down" entire urban areas, are widely perceived as a pretext of the Felipe Calderon government to curb mounting social dissent against one of the most corrupt administrations in Mexcican history. In Mexico, the May 1st Parade, which was directed against the Calderon government, was cancelled
The WHO's Balance SheetThe WHO advisory points to 148 laboratory confirmed cases Worldwide of the swine influenza, including 8 deaths, barely a pandemia:
"29 April 2009 -- The situation continues to evolve rapidly. As of 18:00 GMT, 29 April 2009, nine countries have officially reported 148 cases of swine influenza A/H1N1 infection. The United States Government has reported 91 laboratory confirmed human cases, with one death. Mexico has reported 26 confirmed human cases of infection including seven deaths.
The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Austria (1), Canada (13), Germany (3), Israel (2), New Zealand (3), Spain (4) and the United Kingdom (5).
Further information on the situation will be available on the WHO website on a regular basis." (WHO.org)
In a 29 April statement, the WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan confirmed that
"Based on assessment of all available information, and following several expert consultations, I have decided to raise the current level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 4 to phase 5.
Influenza pandemics must be taken seriously precisely because of their capacity to spread rapidly to every country in the world.
... WHO will be tracking the pandemic at the epidemiological, clinical, and virological levels.
... I have reached out to donor countries, to UNITAID, to the GAVI Alliance, the World Bank and others to mobilize resources.
Bonanza for the Pharmaceutical ConglomeratesBig Pharma has been identified by the WHO as the solution to the crisis:
"I [the WHO Director-General] have reached out to companies manufacturing antiviral drugs to assess capacity and all options for ramping up production. I have also reached out to influenza vaccine manufacturers that can contribute to the production of a pandemic vaccine."
The swine flu pandemic constitutes a corporate bonanza for a handful of BioTech conglomerates. The European Union has already given the green light to work with Big Pharma to develop a vaccine against the swine flu.
Examination of the EvidenceThe data used to justify a Worldwide level 5 alert is extremely scanty. The WHO states a "global outbreak of the disease is imminent". As documented by William Engdahl, the symptoms of swine flu are non specific, similar to those of flu in general. (See William Engdahl, Global Research, April 29, 2009).
Scientific opinion contradicts the WHO official statement:
"Scientists studying the virus are coming to the consensus that this hybrid strain of influenza -- at least in its current form -- isn't shaping up to be as fatal as the strains that caused some previous pandemics.
In fact, the current outbreak of the H1N1 virus, which emerged in San Diego and southern Mexico late last month, may not even do as much damage as the run-of-the-mill flu outbreaks that occur each winter without much fanfare.
Mounting preliminary evidence from genetics labs, epidemiology models and simple mathematics suggests that the worst-case scenarios are likely to be avoided in the current outbreak." (Los Angeles Times, April 30, 2009)
Mexico
Influenza is a common disease. There are millions of cases of influenza across America, on an annual basis. "According to the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the flu kills up to 2,500 Canadians and about 36,000 Americans annually. Worldwide, the number of deaths attributed to the flu each year is between 250,000 and 500,000" (Thomas Walkom, The Toronto Star, May 1, 2009)
Most of the reported influenza cases in Mexico do not exhibit the A/H1N1 strain.
From the press reports, most of the Mexican cases of swine flu were "suspected", they have not been confirmed by an advanced lab examination. The Mexican Minister of Health, José Ángel Córdova confirmed that there were "2498 serious cases of atypical pneumonia associated with a flu condition" ...[which] could be related to the A/H1N1 virus". Out of those 2498 cases of influenza, 159 died, of influenza or related ailments, but only seven of these deaths were related to the swine flu, according to the official statement of the Minister of Health.
The figures above are consistent with the overall pattern of influenza observed in Mexico in previous years. "In a normal year, between 6,500 and 7,500 Mexicans die from pneumonia-like diseases" (Ibid)
159 reported deaths "have been blamed on the outbreak" but the lab reports suggest that the swine flu was the cause of death only in seven out of 159 cases.
For instance, in the Veracruz town of La Gloria where there was an outbreak of acute respiratory infections, out of 450 cases, 35 were tested for the swine flu virus and only one came back positive.
No details were given as to the lab results pertaining to these seven cases.
Most of the press reports will quote 152 deaths from the H1N1 virus, when in fact only seven of these deaths are associated with the particular A/H1N1 strain, according to the Minister of Health. The other deaths may be associated with cases of ordinary flu and/or related conditions.
In the US only one lab in the entire country has the ability to confirm the identify of the virus, namely the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention located in Atlanta. How many labs are there in Mexico which have the ability to confirm the identify of the virus?
According to reports, samples are being sent to Mexico's National Institute of Epidemiological Diagnosis and Reference, which then forwards them to government labs in the US and Canada. What this suggests is that there is no lab based analysis which documents the relatively large number of suspected cases. According to the Minister's statements, the laboratory analysis pertaining to the 159 deaths is being conducted in Mexican labs with the support of the Atlanta based CDCP and that the results are forthcoming.
The US
In the US there have been 109 reported cases of the virus (April 30, 2009), of which only five were hospitalized. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control confirmed that a 23 month child in Texas had died from the swine flu virus, following hospitalisation and clinical examination.
Media Disinformation
News reports point to "hundreds of New York schoolchildren reported to have fallen sick with "suspected swine flu". There was, however, no evidence corroborated by lab examinations of the incidence of the swine flu H1N1 strain. In all likelihood, the children were suffering from the flu, which is part of a common occurrence during the month of April. "All the cases were mild, no child was hospitalized, no child was seriously ill,” Dr. Frieden said. Health officials reached their preliminary conclusion after conducting viral tests on nose or throat swabs from the eight students, which allowed them to eliminate other strains of flu."
Tests were conducted on school children in Queen's, but the tests were inconclusive: among theses "hundreds of school children", there were no reports of laboratory analysis leading to a positive identification of the influenza virus. In fact the reports are contradictory: according to the reports, the Atlanta based CDCP is the "only lab in the country that can positively confirm the new swine flu strain — which has been identified as H1N1." (NYT, April 25, 2009)
Influenza is a common disease. Unless there is a thorough lab examination, the identity if the virus cannot be established.
It is revealing that the Atlanta based CDCP is playing a key role in identifying the virus on behalf of several Latin American countries, including Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica. On April 30th, the US government established a CDCP lab in Mexico. In other words, a US government agency is monopolising the conduct of laboratory testing, the data and analysis.
